The present invention relates to a coin stacking apparatus and more particularly to an improved coin stacking apparatus serving as a preparative means for a coin disposing machine such as a coin packaging machine or the like.
When a number of coins are to be packed in the form of a cylinder, packing operation is conventionally carried out by way of the steps of counting a predetermined number of coins, inserting them into a coin stacking sleeve one by one, building a stacked structure of coins in the sleeve and delivering the stacked structure to a packaging station where it is packaged with a wrapping or packaging paper.
The coins to be stacked in the coin stacking sleeve are introduced thereinto one by one by allowing them to fall down freely toward a receiving plate due to their own dead weight, and the receiving plate is disposed at the lower opened part of the sleeve. This causes the coins to fall down by a long height and therefore there is a tendency that they assume a vertical posture due to their abutment against the inner wall of the sleeve during the free falling in the sleeve, resulting in no correct stacked structure of coins built up therein. Once any one of introduced coins assumes a vertical posture in the stacked structure, correct packing fails to be carried out in the subsequent process or station.
To obviate the abova-mentioned problem with respect to the conventional coin stacking sleeve a few improvements were already proposed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 7360/1977 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 32461/1977. The improvements consist in that a vertically displaceable receiving plate is horizontally inserted in the stacking sleeve under resilient force imparted by a coil spring which is effective in causing the receiving plate to be normally raised up until the top end of a stacked structure of coins abuts against a roller disposed at the upper end of the sleeve. Coins to be stacked are introduced into the sleeve one by one by depressing the stacked structure against the resilient force of the coil spring without any possibility of causing any one of them to assume a vertical posture. Further, another improvement as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 31352/1973 is such that a receiving plate adapted to move up and down in the coin stacking sleeve with the aid of a cam is horizontally inserted therein and coin stacking is carried out as the receiving plate is lowered stepwise at every counting of a coin to be stacked.
In any one of the above improvements the receiving plate is designed to move up and down in the coin stacking sleeve and there is a necessity of transporting a stacked structure of coins to the next process or station after a predetermined number of coins are stacked in the sleeve and then allowing the receiving plate to resume the initial elevated position where it is ready to receive coins. Specifically, to displace the stacked structure of coins from the coin stacking sleeve it is required that the receiving plate is removed from the sleeve so as to allow the stacked structure of coins to be displaced in the downward direction and after completion of transportation of the latter the receiving plate is inserted into the sleeve until it is raised up to the initial elevated position.
Therefore, the hitherto proposed improvements have drawbacks of complicated structure and long idle time until the next coin stacking operation is initiated. This is because of the fact that delivery of coins to the coin stacking sleeve is inhibited until the receiving plate removed therefrom for the purpose of transportation of the stacked structure of coins is inserted thereinto and resumed the initial elevated position.
Again, the drawbacks inherent to the conventional coin stacking apparatuses will be described below from another point of view.
The conventional coin stacking apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 7360/1977 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 32461/1977 is constructed such that the receiving plate is normally urged toward the upper roller under resilient force of the coil spring and coins to be stacked are introduced into the coin stacking sleeve against the resilient force of the coil spring and the frictional force existing between the outer surface of the stacked structure of coins and the inner wall of the coin stacking sleeve. Since the frictional force increases as the number of stacked coins increases, smooth coin introduction becomes difficult stepwise as the coins are stacked one by one in the coin stacking sleeve.
Another conventional coin stacking apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 31352/1973 is constructed such that the receiving plate in the coin stacking sleeve is in operative association with the coin counting mechanism so as to allow it to be lowered stepwise as coins are introduced thereinto. Owing to the above-described arrangement the conventional coin stacking apparatus does not include the drawback inherent to the foregoing conventional one. However, since the former has a constant relation between the counting number of coins to be stacked and the lowered distance of the receiving plate at all time irrespective of the thickness of the coins and thus there is a necessity of determining a lowered distance of the receiving plate in accordance with the highest thickness of coins when a variety of coins having a different thickness are to be stacked, the result is that a height difference between a coin entrance through which coins to be stacked are introduced into the coin stacking sleeve and the upper face of the stacked structure of coins increases as the number of stacked coins increases, resulting in an elongated distance by which they fall down freely due to their own dead weight. Thus, there is caused a tendency that some of them assumes a vertical posture while they fall down and thereby it can be concluded that the last mentioned conventional coin stacking apparatus fails to resolve the problem with respect to an occurrence of a vertical posture.